Election of the chairman of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party
The election of the chairman of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party ( Japanese 自由 民主党 総 裁 選 挙 , jiyūminshutō sōsai bekyo ) takes place every three years. Because of the dominant position of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the Japanese political system, the party leader was usually elected Prime Minister by the Kokkai . Changes in the office of prime minister took place between the founding of the party in 1955 and the loss of power in 2009, with few exceptions following the election of the LDP chairman.
Procedure
Elections are made every three years or in the event of vacancies due to resignation, illness or death. Regular elections are laid down in a separate regulation: According to this, the party chairman is formally elected by the LDP MPs of both chambers, the members of the party and tōyū ( 党 友 , "friends of the party"), that is, in the LDP: members of party affiliates Organizations, elected. The MPs each have one vote, the size of the delegations from the prefectural associations depends on the number of members, whereby the total number of delegates is now equal to the total number of MPs. They are determined by proportional representation using the D'Hondt method . In the last election in 2018, 405 MPs and 405 delegates were entitled to vote equally. An absolute majority is required. If no candidate can achieve this, a run-off election will be held between the two candidates with the most votes; only the MPs are entitled to vote.
The election is preceded by an election campaign phase of several days - provided there are several candidates for election - in which the factions of the LDP also conduct negotiations and decide whether to express their support for a candidate. The members of the factions are not bound by this recommendation; a dissenting vote, in particular against the candidate from one's own parliamentary group, can lead to the deputy in question losing the parliamentary group's support. In fact, the electoral process is only used in the prefectural associations if the factions cannot agree on a candidate beforehand.
In the event of early elections for the party chairmanship, an assembly made up of LDP MPs from both chambers and three representatives from each prefectural association decides; in an emergency, the assembly of MPs can decide on their behalf. Candidates must be MPs themselves and have at least 20 other MPs who support their candidacy.
history
The election procedure has been changed several times since the party was founded. The number and composition of the party delegates who were entitled to vote in addition to the MPs varied. In some cases, special party conferences were convened for the election, which confirmed the decisions previously made by the MPs. Nationwide primaries were held twice, in 1978 and 1982. In 1972 a quorum of 10 supporting delegates was also introduced, which was required for a candidacy. The number of necessary supporters was repeatedly changed, at times increased to 50.
The chairman's term of office was extended from two to three years in 2002; previously it was three years between 1972 and 1978. Successive re-election is usually limited to two full terms, which de facto also resulted in a term limit for the office of Prime Minister, although the constitution does not provide for such. Since 2017 it has been three full terms. The number of prefectural delegates was previously often significantly smaller than that of MPs.
Results
Note: For the duration of their term of office, party leaders usually give up their formal membership.
| date | Election winner (color: faction affiliation) |
be right | Other candidates with votes (color: party belonging to the runner-up) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 5th 1956 | Hatoyama Ichirō | 394 |
Kishi Nobusuke 4, Hayashi Jōji 3, Ishibashi Tanzan 2, Ishii Mitsujirō 2, Masutani Shōji 2, Ōno Bamboku 2, Kōno Ichirō 1, Shigemitsu Mamoru 1, Matsuno Tsuruhei 1, Ikeda Hayato 1; 5 invalid votes |
||
| December 14, 1956 | 1st ballot: Kishi Nobusuke | 223 | Ishibashi Tanzan 151, Ishii Mitsujirō 137 | ||
| Runoff election: Ishibashi Tanzan | 258 | Kishi Nobusuke 251 | |||
| March 21, 1957 | Kishi Nobusuke | 471 | Matsumura Kenzō 2, Ishii Mitsujirō 1, Kitamura Tokutarō 1 | ||
| January 14, 1959 | Kishi Nobusuke | 320 | Matsumura Kenzō 166, Ōno Bamboku 1, Yoshida Shigeru 1, Ishii Mitsujirō 1, Masutani Shōji 1, Satō Eisaku 1 |
||
| July 14, 1960 | 1st ballot: Ikeda Hayato | 246 | Ishii Mitsujirō 196, Fujiyama Aiichirō 49, Matsumura Kenzō 5, Ōno Bamboku 1, Satō Eisaku 1 | ||
| Runoff election: Ikeda Hayato | 302 | Ishii Mitsujirō 194 | |||
| July 14, 1962 | Ikeda Hayato | 391 | Satō Eisaku 17, Ichimada Hisato 6, Kishi Nobusuke 5, Fujiyama Aiichirō 3, Yoshida Shigeru 2, Fukuda Takeo 2, Takahashi Hitoshi 1, Shōriki Matsutarō 1 |
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| July 10, 1964 | Ikeda Hayato | 242 | Satō Eisaku 160, Fujiyama Aiichirō 72, Nadao Hirokichi 1 | ||
| December 1, 1964 | Satō Eisaku | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| 1st December 1966 | Satō Eisaku | 289 | Fujiyama Aiichirō 89, Maeo Shigesaburō 47, Nadao Hirokichi 11, Noda Uichi 9, Kosaka Zentarō 2, Kishi Nobusuke 1, Matsumura Kenzō 1, Murakami Isamu 1 |
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| November 27, 1968 | Satō Eisaku | 249 | Miki Takeo 107, Maeo Shigesaburō 95, Fujiyama Aiichirō 1 | ||
| October 29, 1970 | Satō Eisaku | 353 | Miki Takeo 111, Chiba Saburō 1, Fujiyama Aiichirō 1, Utsunomiya Tokuma 1 | ||
| 5th July 1972 | 1st election: Tanaka Kakuei | 156 | Fukuda Takeo 150, Ōhira Masayoshi 101, Miki Takeo 69; 7 invalid votes | ||
| Runoff election: Tanaka Kakuei | 282 | Fukuda Takeo 190 | |||
| 4th December 1974 | Miki Takeo | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| 23rd December 1976 | Fukuda Takeo | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| November 26, 1978 | Area codes: Ōhira Masayoshi | 748 points | Fukuda Takeo 638 points, Nakasone Yasuhiro 93 points, Kōmoto Toshio 46 points | ||
| Runoff election: Ōhira Masayoshi | - | after Fukuda Takeo's withdrawal, there was no opponent | |||
| July 15, 1980 | Suzuki Zenko | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| November 27, 1980 | Suzuki Zenko | - | in the absence of an opposing candidate without a vote | ||
| November 24, 1982 | Area Codes: Nakasone Yasuhiro | 559.673 | Kōmoto Toshio 265,078, Abe Shintarō 80,443, Nakagawa Ichirō 66,041 | ||
| Runoff election: Nakasone Yasuhiro | - | after the withdrawal of the opposing candidates | |||
| October 30, 1984 | Nakasone Yasuhiro | - | in the absence of an opposing candidate without a vote | ||
| September 11, 1986 | Nakasone Yasuhiro | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| October 31, 1987 | Takeshita Noboru | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| June 2, 1989 | Uno Sōsuke | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| August 8, 1989 | Kaifu Toshiki | 279 | Hayashi Yoshirō 120, Ishihara Shintarō 48 | ||
| October 31, 1989 | Kaifu Toshiki | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| October 27, 1991 | Miyazawa Kiichi | 285 | Watanabe Michio 120, Mitsuzuka Hiroshi 87 | ||
| July 30, 1993 | Kōno Yōhei | 208 | Watanabe Michio 159 | ||
| 17th September 1993 | Kōno Yōhei | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| September 22, 1995 | Hashimoto Ryūtaro | 304 | Koizumi Jun'ichirō 87 | ||
| September 11, 1997 | Hashimoto Ryūtaro | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| July 24, 1998 | Obuchi Keizo | 225 | Kajiyama Seiroku 102, Koizumi Jun'ichirō 84 | ||
| September 21, 1999 | Obuchi Keizo | 350 | Katō Kōichi 113, Yamasaki Taku 51 | ||
| April 5, 2000 | Mori Yoshirō | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| April 24, 2001 | Koizumi Jun'ichirō | 298 | Hashimoto Ryūtarō 155, Asō Tarō 31, Kamei Shizuka (withdrawn) | ||
| August 10, 2001 | Koizumi Jun'ichirō | according to the arrangement | unopposed | ||
| September 20, 2003 | Koizumi Jun'ichirō | 399 | Kamei Shizuka 139, Fujii Takao 65, Kōmura Masahiko 54 | ||
| September 20, 2006 | Abe Shinzo | 464 | Asō Tarō 136, Tanigaki Sadakazu 102 | ||
| September 23, 2007 | Fukuda Yasuo | 330 | Asō Tarō 197 | ||
| September 22, 2008 | Asō Tarō | 351 | Yosano Kaoru 66, Koike Yuriko 46, Ishihara Nobuteru 37, Ishiba Shigeru 25; 2 invalid votes | ||
| September 28, 2009 | Tanigaki Sadakazu | 300 | Kōno Tarō 144, Nishimura Yasutoshi 54; 1 invalid vote | ||
| September 26, 2012 | 1st ballot: Ishiba Shigeru | 199 | Abe Shinzō 141, Ishihara Nobuteru 96, Machimura Nobutaka 34, Hayashi Yoshimasa 27 | ||
| Runoff election: Abe Shinzō | 108 | Ishiba Shigeru 89 | |||
| September 8, 2015 | Abe Shinzo | (only candidate with the necessary 20 nominees) | |||
| 20th September 2018 | Abe Shinzo | 553 | Ishiba Shigeru 254 | ||
Legend of faction affiliations:
- "Conservative mainstream" ( hoshu honryū , successor to the Liberal Party , "Yoshida School")
- Ikeda → Maeo- → Ōhira- → Suzuki- → Miyazawa- → Katō- → Niwa-Koga- → Koga faction
- Satō faction , Tanaka faction , Takeshita faction , Obuchi- → Hashimoto- → Ex-Hashimoto- → Tsushima-- → Nukaga faction
- Kōno → Asō faction
- "Conservative tributary" ( hoshu bōryū , successor to the Democratic Party of Japan , Hatoyama supporters)
- Kōno → Mori- → Sonoda faction , Nakasone → Watanabe → ex-Watanabe faction
- Murakami-Kamei- → Etō-Kamei- → Kamei- → Ex-Kamei- → Ibuki faction
- Kishi faction , Fukuda → Abe → Mitsuzuka → Mori- → Machimura faction
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- Ishibashi → Ishida faction
- Indirect successor to the Kaishintō ("Progressive Party")
- More recent factions
Web links
- LDP: 党 の あ ゆ み> 歴 代 総 裁 (Japanese: "The development of the party, historical chairperson" with the election results), English History of Presidential Election of the Liberal Democratic Party and 党 則 ( tōsoku , party regulations; pdf), from p. 38 総 裁 公 選 規程 ( sōsai kōsen kitei ; Sōsai election regulations) and p. 51 総 裁 公 選 実 施 細則 ( sōsai kōsen jisshi saisoku ; detailed regulations for conducting a sōsai election); English translations: Rules for election of President , Bylaws of the presidential election
